Summer
Summer. A busy time for the people out on the plains. Many were out on
the fields in the blistering sun all day harvesting wheat or corn.
Although this was a hard time, it does not seem to compare to the extreme
hardships winter brought. Summer is described as a time of "growing up" for the
children [6]. There are
many obvious reasons that support this statement and amplify its argument.
Most of the workers were kept really busy by all the harvesting done in the
summer; this created and
opened up more general chores for the children [10]. All these new chores gave
the children even more responsibility. This added responsibility guides
the children's maturity. The summer also created many job
opportunities for young adults [11]. This was represented by the
whole book of "The Hired Girls" in the novel My Antonia [7]. Several
girls were hired to work in the houses of a prairie town to help the family
financially. In present time, this would be considered a very
"adult" like thing to do. These two factors contribute to the
idea that summer signifies children maturing and growing.
Similarly, summer can also be used to describe a time of "growing up" for today's society. Summer vacation for many teens means that they have just completed a school year and that they are about to take the next step in their education and/or life. A special case would be a newly high school graduates. The summer following senior year is definitely one of the most significant years in a person's life. After high school graduation, one is either going to college or joinging the work force or joining the military. These new experiences definitely define a more mature and grown person from before. It is also quite common to find students working during their summer vacation to make extra money. What could be better way to use a teenager's free time than using it by making money.